


Here In Your Arms

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Getting Together, Infinity Gems, M/M, Misunderstandings, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Jim goes to the past specifically to save Tony, but he finds himself stealing a kiss or two while he's at it.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 167
Collections: IronHusbands, Ironhusbands Bingo 2019





	Here In Your Arms

**Author's Note:**

> For Ironhusbands bingo square O3-WTF

James Rhodes appeared, suit around his body, braces along his legs, and an Infinity Stone evaporating from his hand. It wasn't gone, not really, but it was... hibernating. Waiting until it wanted to be used again. Why it had let Jim come back at all was a mystery, but it had and he was going to take full advantage. 

He swallowed, looking around the Tower as the suit melted away, waiting under his skin to be called up at any time. Nothing looked too different, but when the Tower wasn't half destroyed, it had always looked basically the same. During wintertime Tony would sometimes put out a chanukiah, and in February he'd paint everything pink just to mess with Rhodey, but that was it. But if the Stone had followed the desire of when he'd wanted to go, this should work. "Jarvis?" 

"Yes Colonel?" 

His eyes closed in relief, and a smile crossed his face without trying. "Is- Tony around?" God let Tony be around. None of this was worth it if Tony wasn't here. 

"Sir is in the workshop. If I may ask, Colonel?" 

"Yeah?" 

"I do not know how to explain your appearance here or how the suit disappeared." 

"Don't worry about it, J, I'll explain later." 

"Of course, Colonel. Should I tell Sir to expect your arrival?" 

"Nah, I'd like to surprise him." It wasn't really about the surprise though, more like he didn't want Tony to hear that Rhodey was here and expect this time's current one. It wasn't something Jarvis could easily explain, and it would just confuse him when Jim tried to explain it himself. When he stepped in the elevator, Jarvis automatically brought him down. God, Tony. He was about to see him again. That had been the point of all of this, but now that it was about to happen he didn't know how he was going to deal with it. 

There had been a plan. Jim had plotted all of this out, from what information he'd share to when he'd appear, to what he'd do about the Shield/Hydra mess. If he wanted Earth to survive Thanos's attack, they'd need Shield protecting people and the team actually together. It would've been so easy to just go back to the day Tony died and saving him, but the problems came long before that. Tony sacrificed himself to save the fucking universe, so all Jim had to do was make sure the universe was still fine when Tony lived. Yeah, easy. 

The doors opened to the workshop and he was very aware of how loudly his heart was beating. Tony looked up from his project and broke out into a grin. "Honey bear!" He pushed himself away from the table and tugged the goggles down so they were hanging around his neck. "What are you doing here, I thought you were on assignment in Iraq?" 

"Kinda complicated, I'll explain in a minute." Right now, all Jim wanted to do was study the way Tony moved, the way he was brimming with life. The last time he'd seen him, there had been ashy scars crawling across his face and every breath had sounded more painful than the last. Rhodey pulled him into a hug, and Tony hugged him back automatically. 

Tony made to pull away, but Jim held onto him harder. Tony chuckled, leaning into it again. "See I knew you missed me." 

"Always do." God, Tony was _here_ and he was _alive_. He turned his head just so, Tony's hair tickling his face as he breathed him in. He was supposed to let go and explain now. He wouldn't mention the part where Tony died, he'd just say that Thanos's army succeeded and he came back to make sure that didn't happen, and Tony would help him figure it out. He'd have to explain the part about the Civil War and his injury and the Winter Soldier, but he'd probably be able to avoid Ultron and all that bullshit. 

He was supposed to start explaining. 

Instead, he muttered, "Please don't punch me for this," and pulled back enough to cup the side of Tony's face in one hand and lean back in to kiss him. He'd never kissed Tony before. He'd thought about it a thousand times, but he'd told Tony that he loved him once, and they never talked about it again so he hadn't risked it. But Tony had _died_ and Jim wasn't going to have the same regret twice. 

Tony blinked, looking bewildered. He didn't know, did he? Jim had told him literal decades ago that he loved him, but Tony must have thought that those feelings dissipated after a couple years. He didn't know that James had been so fucking in love with him the entire time. "What... what happened to your legs?" he asked, and that was actually better. They'd do what they always did in these situations: not talk about it. Ignore the event until it went away. "Was there an accident, is that why you're back? You should've called me. Who the hell made those? How long ago did-" 

Jim did what he always did when Tony started to talk himself into a spiral: covered his mouth with his hand. "It's not your fault. And you made these." 

Tony's brow furrowed, clearly thinking that he couldn't have made them because he'd remember something like that. The design might look simple, but it had been coded specifically to Rhodey, and it had taken weeks worth of testing before he could take a single step in them, even assisted by another person and a bar to lean most of his weight against. 

This was the time where he had to explain. He'd gotten to hold Tony and remind himself that he was alive right now, that he could stop half the shit from happening before it destroyed someone. He'd stolen a kiss, and that was better than he'd allowed himself to think it would be. Now it was time to do what he'd actually come here to do. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm from the future, and I'm making sure we don't fuck up like we did the first time around." 

* * *

Tony'd had a hundred questions, and Jim answered some but deflected most. It didn't matter what had happened for most of the inbetween time, and Jim was going to get rid of the Mandarin before he had a chance to get in spitting distance of Tony. He knew that Tony could take care of himself, but he didn't need that grief. The questions had finally slowed, and now Tony was processing it all. He'd taken the news of the team's break up pretty well, which hadn't been what Jim expected. Tony had been pretty damn broken up about it as it was happening, but maybe it was easier to handle when he wasn't in the thick of it. Instead of being concerned about his own role in everything, he was more focused on everyone else. Where Clint was, how Natasha handled it, if Steve finally found an apartment instead of going cross country. 

"So we're together in the future?" he asked as if from nowhere, and Jim sighed. 

"No." 

"No?" Tony said, sounding surprised. "But- you kissed me." 

Okay, apparently they weren't going to ignore it until the end of time. "Yeah, but we weren't together." 

"Was I with somebody else?" he asked, frowning. 

"No." 

"Then why...?" 

Jim rubbed a hand over his face before resting his chin on top of his fist. "You've never felt that way about me Tony, I don't know why you think that would've changed in the next ten years." 

"You've never felt that way about me either." 

He raised an eyebrow. What did Tony think this was going to accomplish? If they were talking about the kiss, it didn't make sense to ignore The Confession from college. "Uh, yeah I do Tony. Kinda always have, you've known the whole time." Or at least most of the time. But in the grand scheme of their friendship, Tony not knowing for a year and a half wasn't worth mentioning. 

Tony just looked at him, not comprehending. 

"Your twentieth birthday?" 

He shook his head, not getting it. 

Jim sighed again, heavier and more world-weary this time. 

"I don't know what you want me to say, James. The only thing I remember about my twentieth birthday is waking up that morning. Then I grabbed a bottle of- fuck, rum, I think?" 

"So you don't remember _anything_ from that day." 

"No. I woke up and started drinking, and the next thing I remember is waking up in your apartment and you were making me breakfast. Did something happen?" He paused. "Fuck don't tell me we slept together and I don't remember it." 

Jim snorted. "No, we didn't sleep together." 

"Well?" Tony said expectantly. 

"Well what?" 

"Tell me what happened." 

"It's ancient history." 

"It is not, you liar. Besides, if it was ancient history, wouldn't it be okay to tell me?" 

Tony had that little tilt of his head that meant he wasn't going to let this go, so Jim shrugged. "I told you I loved you but we didn't have to do anything about it if you didn't want to. If you wanted to go on a date we could talk about it in the morning, and if not we could just forget about it." 

"...And I never said anything." 

"Never mentioned it." 

"Fuck," Tony muttered, looking like he wanted to drown himself in his coffee cup. "Can we just forget about that?" 

Even though it's what Jim had been expecting, a small kernel of hope shriveled inside him. "Yeah, of course." 

Only then Tony was leaning towards him and kissing him, so maybe he didn't understand what Tony had meant by that. "You're staying, right? You're not going to disappear now that I know or anything?" 

Dumbly, he shook his head. 

"Good." Tony kissed him again, longer this time and leaning into it like this was all he wanted to do for the rest of the day. He didn't; Tony could never stay still for long, and there was too much to prepare for. 


End file.
